Antoine Gizenga

Antoine Gizenga (5 October 1925-) was President of Congo-Stanleyville from 12 December 1960 to 15 August 1961; he later served as Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 30 December 2006 to 10 October 2008, succeeding Likulia Bolongo and preceding Adolphe Muzito.

Biography
Antoine Gizenga was born in Mbanza, Kwilu, Belgian Congo on 5 October 1925, and he became a Catholic priest in 1947. During the 1950s, inspired by Patrice Lumumba's views on African socialism, Gizenga helped to found the leftist African Solidarity Party. In 1960, he became Lumumba's Deputy Prime Minister, and he became the leader of the Congo-Stanleyville government in eastern Congo after Lumumba was imprisoned and executed by Joseph-Desire Mobutu. In January 1962, he was arrested in Congo-Leopoldville, and he was freed when Mobutu seized power in 1965. Gizenga went into exile in various African countries, in France, and then Canada, and he returned to Zaire in 1977 to enter politics. In 1993, Gizenga became the leader of the Unified Lumumbist Party (PALU), and he served as Prime Minister under Joseph Kabila from 2006 to 2008.